Monday, April 23, 2012

While visiting the town of Saumur in the Loire
valley
of France we happened upon the work in progress of the renovation of a 500 year old home. The 500 year old Maison des Chapagnons.

Views of the town and river Loire.

Looking upstream from the base of the castle

Carousel in the center of the town of Saumur

500 year old Maison des Chapagnons after renovation and new additions.

I remember my friend Francois in Paris had told me that each town in
France had an architectural review board. Nothing is allowed to be
built in France unless an architectural review board approves it and
then it has to match the existing architecture of the village. Although
the house was not new it still had many new additions including the
workshop across the square from the front of the house you could not
tell it from the rest of the homes in Saumur.

I was watching the workers cut stone for this new home. One man was using a hand saw to cut a piece
of fresh limestone while another mason was trimming a block of stone with a
hatchet. You see France sits on
a shelf of limestone. Just dig down
about five feet and you can find all of the limestone you need to build with. When it is first
quarried it is very soft and easy to cut.
Once exposed to the air it hardens and becomes more durable. Many of the finest chateaus in the loire Valley are built from
this stone. The whiteness of the stones used here are perhaps from the Bourré quarries in
the Cher Valle.

The house is actually used a school for French students who want to learn and help preserve the old building skills such as stone masonry, slate roofing, metal working and heavy timber construction. See this link for more photos http://erwan.levourch.pagesperso-orange.fr/sites_saumur.htm. The name of the place is Maison des Compagnons and it is a part of The Association Ouvrière des Compagnons du Devoir du Tour de France. here is a link to the schools website http://www.compagnons-du-devoir.com/.

As you can see from these photos the walls of the house are
cut stone, some of the walls are half-timber with brick and mortar infill, the
porch post and roof structure are heavy timber and the roof is slate with lead
flashing. if you study the design of the roofing details, the workmanship of the slate roof construction you will see that this house could easily last a thousand years. The timber work and trim work
has been finished to look older than it is in order to match the adjoining
buildings. The structural connections of
the timbers are done with wooden pegs. This
new house has small gargoyles on the top of the gable walls and it even has
them on the medieval well in the courtyard.
The slate dormers on the roof cantilever out over the window in the
French tradition. Check out this video showing how these historic structures are worked on by the students http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7AQ6lPe8D84#!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Here are some new slides of my last trip to
Europe. These trips to Europe have been an inspiration to me in practice as an architect ever since.

This collection is from my boat trip up the Rhine during
a trip in October. A side benefit to traveling this time of year is that many of
the small towns along the Rhine are having their wine festivals and October
Fest.

The boat tour started in the city of Koblenz and proceeded upstream
past small medieval walled towns to the Castle Marksburg atop a the steep hill
on the left. We walked up that hill and
took a tour of the fortress. One can understand
why they chose this spot.

The Marksberg from the river

The Marksberg

The Marksberg, The Blacksmith's Forge

The Marksberg, Inside the Knights Chamber

Continuing up the river once again one sees even more beautiful churches,
walled towns with turrets and ancient fortresses some dating back to the time
of the Romans. It was at the city of
Koblenz where
Caesar built his famous bridge across the Rhine in order to invade
Germany and defeat the German tribes (Nice Try).

As the day comes to an end I had a chance to photograph
several of the old castles in silhouette.

These two bothers had to build a wall between their two castles. Who says you can't choose your relatives.

A typical German church built from local stone with a slate roof.

Old Roman Watchtower

The Castle Rheinfels from the river.

View of the ruins of Castle Rheinfells demolished by Napoleons forces.

The Castle Rheinfels.

Add caption

I spent the night a hostel on
top of the hill above the town of Oberwessel.
The next morning I was greeted with these superb views at 7:30 in the
morning.

This restaurant was built in 1638. The food was excellent!

Details of the leaded glass and half timber construction

Gate at rear of town from inside the walls.

Gate at rear of town.

Note the vineyards.

Ja, it leans to the left.

These Weisenheimers decided it would be a good idea to stretch a chain
across the Rhine and charge a toll. An old Roman fort sits on the hill
beyond.

About Me

I have been a registered architect in Georgia since 1982. I am registered with the NCARB and therefore have reciprocity to practice in all fifty states. I have over forty years experience in commercial and residential design. I have been the principle of my own firm, Greg Mix & Associates Architects Inc. A.I.A. since 1987. My partner, Andy Jessup, and I just formed a new company, Southeast Studios Inc. During my career I have designed hundreds of commercial projects and custom homes for builders and owners. I have been a member of the A.I.A. for over twenty years. My experience includes multi-family, mixed use, offices buildings, banks, retail stores, shopping centers, custom homes and residential renovations.
At the websites GregMix.com and SoutheastStudiosInc.com you can see of photographs of projects I have completed.
770-806-8866; gregmix@comcast.net